


Angels of Villainy

by AlexielHellsing



Series: Angels of Villainy series [1]
Category: True Blood (TV), Villainous (Cartoon), 殺戮の天使 | Satsuriku no Tenshi (Video Game), 殺戮の天使 | Satsuriku no Tenshi | Angels of Death (Anime), 殺戮の天使 | Satsuriku no Tenshi | Angels of Death (Manga)
Genre: Damsels in Distress, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Hacking, Murder, Romance, Self-Doubt, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Sacrifice, Violence, family helps with crime drama, work place abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2019-11-17 21:43:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18107057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexielHellsing/pseuds/AlexielHellsing
Summary: Persephone Autumnborn was an average hacker until she got caught by Black Hat organization. They force her to work for the infamous Black Hat since her hacking skills are coveted. On her last night of freedom, she meets a certain scythe wielding serial killer, who she has a one night stand with. Can she fulfill her promise to Zack to help him kill the guy who burned him? What is Black Hat's plan for the hacker? Can Zack rescue her in time or will his lack of literacy and common sense get her killed?





	1. One Night Stands, Drugs, and Murder

In truth, she didn’t entirely mean to do it but it happened regardless. What came out of her mouth was simply pure want. Just a simple want. There was no forethought behind it. She just impulsively wanted this. She looked at the guy who was covered in bandages dressed in a brown hoodie and red pants. She knew it wasn’t a good idea to even entertain the concept. But as if possessed by the spirit of want, she asked him one question that would change her life.

“Sweet boy, what does a humble girl such as myself have to do for a handsome lad such as yourself to get you into my bed for a night of love and bliss?” The mysterious girl asked.  
“ _Haaaaaah?!”_ The infamous serial killer turned around to stare blankly at the woman. “Well, you got a big ole sack don’t ya? Can’t you see the fuckin’ scythe in my hand?” He dropped the blade from its resting place on his shoulders with a loud thud. Was this broad serious? It took him back to the time that curly haired woman in the dress hit on him hoping to escape death. “Whaddya talking about?!”

The nameless woman shrugged her shoulders,“I see it Big Bad. So let me be blunt, wanna fuck?” She appealed with a slight blush. “I can only do it for one night since I gotta get to my new miserable job at Black Hat Organization,” her gaze became downcast. “I lose my freedom after tonight,” she confessed sadly.

She shook herself out of her thoughts, “And frankly there are worse things than death in the multiverse. So what do you say? I can pay for the room.” She held out her hand warmly to beckon him.

Isaac huffed, “Well why’d ya’ give up ya freedom for?” He felt a spark of curiosity. Under his bandages he was also bright red, unsure how to answer her.

“My boss is holding my mother and pets hostage without them even knowing. It’s not like he can be overcome either; he’s stupid powerful, cruel, smart, and not human. But enough about him,” She explained, no longer wanting to talk about her eldritch boss.

“Oh…,” Zack frowned at that. “That’s…really shitty I’m sorry.”

The dark haired and pale woman shook her head, “I can back off if you’re not interested. I just figured you would be fun,” she scratched her head sheepishly.

"Oh! No!" He held up his hands, "I'm-well- I've never really-y'know" he sputtered, embarrassed.

The woman sputtered and facepalmed, "Oh my Goddess I'm an idiot." She sighed and messaged her temples,”I must look like a creep to you.”

"Nah! It's ok! Y’know just not a lot of chicks really wanna get jiggy with me-" he sighed and shoved a hand through his hair. "Actually none have," he smiled.

“So interested?” She appealed once again, her face changing. “It would be my honor to step up to the plate,” She said gallantly. She gave him a a hopeful glance completely unafraid.

"Uh, uh-" he fumbled awkwardly, "Shit, sure-I mean, what the hell!" An awkward smile stretched across his face.

The black haired woman led the flustered bandaged man to her car. It wasn't an impressive vehicle but it worked. They started having problems with unlocking the car as Zack kept trying to pull the car handle too early before she could unlock it. They got in without further incident.

She could sense the tension building in the man next to her. He was clearly nervous yet excited. The Scythe sat carelessly in the back seat It reminded the woman of cosplay adventures she had in her college days. She smiled subtly at the memories. She refused to let Black Hat and his minions ruin her last chance of freedom. As long as she played by their rules hopefully they would keep their word. Yet there was a nagging feeling in her gut that they might not in the future. After all they were villains.

Her hacking skills became a coveted asset to the Organization. Black Hat always got what he wanted in the end. She just has to keep on her toes and try not to piss him off. As for the boy next to her, his black hair and mismatched eyes captivated her. And unsafe as it sounded, so did his tough guy/bad boy vibe. So though she knew he killed people she ran with antiheroes and villains alike. Nothing scared her any more.

Besides, there was nothing scarier than Black Hat.

Zack fidgeted in the passenger seat, looking from her to all around the car. He would smile nervously every time he glanced at her. The woman next to him seemed to be lost deeply in thought. He felt so far out of his element he didn't know what to do. He went from messing with the radio dial to messing with the hunting knife he always kept on his side. It was a new feeling for him to hold back. It felt unnecessary and annoying Like an animal acting less on their ingrained instincts.

"I take it no one caught your interest before?" She asked with mild amusement.

"No, no one really did," he shrugged, hoping they'd arrive soon. The motions of the car were making him uneasy. The red car pulled into the driveway of their destination. She told Zack to wait in the car so she could pay for the room.

Quickly she grabbed her purse which was weirdly head shaped. It looked like a foam zombie’s head with steel chains coming from its temples. Isaac tried not to stare at the purse. It was odd, that was fuckin' for sure, but also funny in a weird way. He snickered and waited, flipping the radio stations and messing with the window buttons.

The lady at the desk looked at the woman, “Can I help you Ma’am?” “Yeah I ‘d like a room for the night,”she said pulling out a black card with a black hat logo on it. The lady sort of froze at first recognizing the infamous logo. Yet she knew better and rung her up.

She returned to the car and motioned for Zack to follow her. He did, picking up his scythe and bringing it with him. She thought about telling him to leave it but figured he would feel better with it nearby. So she stopped herself mid thought.

Pulling out the key card and sliding it in arrow first. She was met with a slightly cold room with plain modern furniture. Still it was better than an ugly furniture set. He followed her into the room and looked around, smiling a bit. He went inside and leaned his blade on the wall, then he turned and looked at her. "What?"

“C’mere,” she motioned him towards the bed. “Hey, don’t be afraid to tell me if you don’t like something I do kay?”

“A'ight," he said, striding over to the bed. He sat down on the edge and peered at her. She started unzipping the back of her black dress. While kicking her mid heel shoes off. Leaving her in nothing but thigh high stockings, black panties and a bra that hugged her swollen chest.

He blushed again under his bandages and swallowed. In response to her undressing, he unzipped his hoodie and unbuckled his belt, dropping his pants, leaving him only in the bandages and some boxers.

She climbed on top of him, planting her lips gently into his and wrapped her arms around his neck. He kissed her back, laying back on the mattress as she straddled him. His hands reached up and curled in her hair.“Grab it a bit will you? Not too hard though,” She requested.

"Okay," he tightened his grip a bit, not enough to hurt her but she could feel it.

“Oh fuck perfect,” she moaned. She ran her hands along him. “You can still feel me right? I mean under the bandages.”

"Yeah, I can," he smiled a bit.

“Ok good,” she said and immediately went for the killers neck, gently sucking at the covered skin. Her hands rubbed along his sides, while her chest squished against his own abs. His hands roamed over her skin, along her spine and along her inner thigh.

"Oh do that again that's good." She said with a shiver. Is this really his first time? “Also dig your nails into it. I want you to leave a mark,” She mewled breathlessly. He nodded, mirroring his movements from before, but this time roughly dragging his nails across her back. She wanted something to help her cope with the tough days ahead. The pain of the scratches would remind her of this night for a few days at least. The irony of a killer saving her sanity, was not lost on her. Black Hat would not take this away from her.

She groaned in pain but it was lovely. He could take her life, her sanity, her freedom, but he could never take this memory away from her. This night was her secret big middle finger.

She took off her bra, resisting the urge to rip it off (at the risk of looking unlady like). She impatiently tugged at his boxers. He helped her tug down his boxers, then he carefully reached over and tugged down her panties. She cupped his face in her hands and said,"Are you ready?” She could feel herself quaking in anticipation.

"Yeah," he nodded, looking at her.

“Just don't start going until I say, all right?” Then she aligned herself with him. He was really warm. It was like something that needed to be interlocked. It was the catharsis she desperately needed.

After she felt ready she told him to start moving. He waited for her to say it was ok. It was an entirely new sensation to him. Once he was told to, Zack began to thrust carefully. She started running her fingers through his hair shivering from the sensation.

Thank Gods she was infertile and he was a virgin. He probably didn't know what a condom was anyway.

She was panting heavily. "Try not to go too fast just yet, kay?" Her legs were going to be shaky in the morning. Her throat involuntarily made a noise she couldn't keep in.

“Ok..." his breath hitched in his chest. His hands wrapped around her waist, and even though he felt exhilarated and excited, he took it slowly. To stop himself from groaning, he pulled her to him and kissed her. She kissed him back.

Sure she had guys before but the bad-boy vibe made it better. She was going to make the most of this night. She grabbed his hands and put them on her chest encouraging him to squeeze. He did as she suggested, squeezing and trailing his fingers along the sensitive areas.

“Oh fuck! Do that while biting my neck,” She groaned she could feel herself getting close. He sank his teeth harshly into her neck, still trailing his hands across her sensitive breasts.‘Yup I’m going,’ she thought to herself. She gave a high pitched groan in satisfaction. Panting heavily, she threw her arms around him for more contact. Man she really hoped the bite left a mark.

First one night stand was a success. She wonders if he got there too. Certainly not going to be selfish about that. If she needed to blow him she would.

He blinked a few times, eyes widening. She'd definitely done.... Something? Was she supposed to do that? He held her waist and looked at her, unsure what exactly to do. "Hey did you finish too? I have no problem finishing the job.” She panted heavily and her voice was still sex husky. She could tell her legs were shaking like a leaf especially if she tried to move.

"Finish?" He asked. Was he supposed to do that thing too?

"Of course. I would be a jerk if I didn't," she said a little surprised at his question. She shrugged the thought, got off him and knelt between his legs. She gently rubbed her hands on his thighs. She grabbed his still hard shaft and planted a tender kiss on the underside. "Oh!" He sat up in surprise, eyes wide. Zack looked down at her, watching what she was doing.

She kept her eyes on him as she licked from the bottom of the base to the top leaving a hot wet trail. He found his fingers snaking into her hair, lightly holding the back of her head. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. She closed her mouth around him feeling it twitch as if attempting to get away from the heat. She gently cupped his balls in one of her hands, hoping that it was ok and that he was not uncomfortable. Some guys liked this, some guys didn’t.

He just moaned softly, allowing her to do as she pleased; while his grip on her hair tightened a bit. She thrummed her tongue along the underside while her hand gripped him tightly as if she owned it.

After a while, she swirled her tongue around it clockwise and counterclockwise. She did feel a little worried his hysterical strength might rip into her hair. She wasn't openly narcissistic but she did happen to like her black thick locks framing her pale face leading to her warm brown eyes.

He didn't hurt her. He was careful about that. He just held her hair in a mild grip and moaned softly. Then she started rubbing the shaft up and down. She kept her thumb working on the underside. It was how her first boyfriend taught her to do it. She kept her mouth on the head, gently scraping it with her teeth just to see how he might react.

"Fuck~" he exhaled, sounding a bit out of breath. He wasn't exactly aware, due to his lack of education, but he was getting pretty close.She could tell he was getting close. The signs never failed her before and are not now. So she kept at it. Still watching him react like this made her a little happy. Like she was in control. It might be the last time too.

His grip grew tighter. He wasn't sure how, but somehow it felt even better, he sucked in a sharp breath, and came, a growl following after. She could feel his seed spilling into her mouth. She tried swallowing it quickly but had a little coughing spell. His cock came out of her mouth with a pop, some of his cum shooting onto her chest. She needed water. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Are... you ok?" He asked softly, still a bit out of breath. "Yeah I'm fine just need some water," she said. She got up to the bathroom and cupped some water into her hands. Closing her eyes she took a drink.

She finally noticed the bathroom was plain too. Just grey tiles on the floor and white tiles on the wall. This was a really basic overnight. She washed her hands slowly, meticulously.

She really just fucked and blew a serial killer and he was surprisingly gentle to her. She should do something for him but what?

She wondered if this is what Sookie Stackhouse felt when she had her first time with Bill Compton in the Trueblood books. Soon their love theme from the show popped in her head making her blush. She shook her head, "No this is a one night stand; besides you might never see him again. Get those flighty thoughts out of your head girl." She scolded herself.

Zack allowed her to do whatever in the bathroom before he went to pee. Then he went and sat down, "Man, I'm hungry. You hungry?" "Not really but I can pay." She paused a moment. "I'm nervous about my new life tomorrow and it's making my stomach sink." It wasn't completely a lie but it wasn't the whole truth. Eating after a blow job wasn't exactly appetizing but she didn't want to tell him that. She was afraid she might insult him. Guys usually didn't like that.

Dammit she knew who he was from the news, but he didn't even know her name. Probably better that way she thought. She took another drink of water and swished some free mini mouthwash. "My clothes!" she thought in a panic. "Dammit I got to face him sometime.” She looked at herself one last time in the mirror with a serious face and said,”Get your shit together.” He was just fidgeting around the room. What should he do now? Did he leave? Pay her? He didn't have money. Did he fuck it up? He hoped not. He picked up books and random things, then set them back down.

Finally she emerged. She quickly grabbed her clothes wanting the awkward part to be over with. “So what are you hungry for anyway?” Her panties slid on with a snap sound, she skipped the bra, and hid her face by putting her dress over her head only for her head to emerge struggling to zip the dress back on.

“Uh….Just like food, y'know?" He paused in his movements, watching her struggle with the dress,"Do... you need help?"

Sighing in defeat she said,"Just zip the dress.” She didn’t mean to sound bitchy but it came out sounding like it. She moved her black Uber ponytail out of the way, while putting her shoes on. "I'll order food if you like,” "Ok," he quickly zipped it up, then stepped back and grabbed his own hoodie, slipping into it. She still seemed really down. He didn't know how to help. "Are....Are you ok? Is it that....hatty fuckin' thing or...?"

"Yeah," quickly grabbing the excuse. "I was happy during the act but the bad news came rushing back. Guy is as nasty as a shark," she laughed. "He has the smile like one too.She pulled out her phone and showed him his latest commercial. It was the one about his evil resort.

"Oh," Zack looked at the phone blandly. The man on screen didn't really upset him. Or scare him, for that matter. He shrugged a bit. "He... doesn't really scare me."

"Really?" She felt shocked. Everyone who met him was scared of him. "That's because he doesn't hold your life in his hands. He hasn't treated you like a tool to break and torment as he sees fit. I'm going to be that poor robot. I never did well under lock and key. One wrong move even by accident and everything I care about is dead. He doesn't forgive or forget. I don't think he can die either... Uh…forget it, I'll order pizza if you like,” she pulled out the GrubHub app to order something.

"Ok..." He was spacing out again. Her words rang in his head, reminding him of his past in the orphanage. Wondering if they'd take the shovel and crack his head open. Starving and just struggling to stay alive.

Every. Day.

He sort of understood her fear, he supposed, but he didn't say anything. She ordered half a pepperoni and half veggie with 2 sodas. The order would come in about 30 minutes. He began moving again, unsure what else to do. Glancing at her before picking up and setting down things. Finally, he began flipping channels on the tv.

She noticed his bandages and remembered he never took them off during the act. So she sat on the bed and decided to ask him. "Is it too personal a question to ask why you have those bandages? You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I just wanted to know more about you." She knew it was a possible thin ice question but she let him know she wouldn't judge.

“Uh..." He didn't say anything for a long time. He knew from his experience with Ray that it was just curiosity, nothin' more, so he knew not to leap at her. "I was burned, a long time ago....By my mother's boyfriend, I think.”

“What?! How old were you then?" She had a look of horrified shock on her face. And a touch of anger.

"Don't know," Zack shrugged. "But I do remember I bit him.”

“I don’t blame you. Even if someone tried to kill me I’d fight them, dirty too,” she then had a thought. “If you had the chance to find him would you take revenge on him?”

“Fuck…Yes,” Isaac grinned, thinking about all the fucked up shit he'd do to the guy if he could.

Bingo. “Well, I’m a hacker, Black Hat Organization has limitless resources, finding this piece of trash should be easy.” She looked for people before but never for murder. Usually to mess with them. On the other hand, if this made him happy this was going to be worth it.

"Ok...?" He wasn't entirely sure what a "hacker" was. Something' with computers…? Still it was a chance at the revenge of a life time.

‘If I’m going to be a slave to this other worldly douchebag I might as well make the most of it,’ she thought. “But Black Hat can’t know otherwise he might charge you for lots of money, your organs, limbs, or your soul,” she warned.

Zack shrugged again. He still wasn't scared of "Black Hat" at all. His mind has focused on revenge and he would cut down anyone in his way.

A knock on the motel door pounded. It looked like the pizza was here.“Oh good I’m actually hungry now.” Having a plan always made her feel better. She went to the door to retrieve the food. "Oh hell yeah!" He looked so excited for the food. It wasn't often he got fresh food. Still, he was careful, staying away from the door as she got the pizza. "Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!" He chanted as she went to get it.

“Hey there honey child!” Said the pizza guy, who was very familiar. “Darnell? What are you doing here?” She said sounding happy to see him. She used her hand to signal Issac to hide, hoping he might get the hint. She didn’t know he already went into hiding.

“I got your order and who else in this Goddamn shit hole of a town would do half veggie half pepperoni? I had to get you your order and see how you doing.” He clearly wanted to come inside. No one could see but Zack was watching, observing the pizza guy. He didn't like him. He didn't know why. He just really, really wanted to kill him. He hoped she'd let him in so he could.

“Actually Darnell I have a date, please don’t scare him.”

What'd she mean 'scare him?' Zack was mad now. He stalked out from his hiding place, glaring “Scared, of what?!”The African American male gave her a funny look, emphasized by his eyeliner and sparkly eyeshadow, “In a hotel room Momma? Ooh you doing bad things with this boy?”

“Darnell!” She exasperated not ready to reveal anything. “Sweetie I’m only teasing, take your pizza, and have fun.” Zack felt a little disappointed. He wanted to kill the guy. Why wouldn't she let him in...? Maybe he should just....Charge at the door? Or yell? Sound like he was in pain? If he did...he might not get the pizza… sighing, he relented.

“I won’t scare him with my gayness until you ready. But you owe me dirty details.” “Go home Darnell, love you Bitch,” She loved him but he was just so much right now. “Love you too Bitch,” he laughed. She got the pizza and sodas onto the motel table.

"Heyyyy," Isaac pretty much growled at her. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. One part serial killer, two parts wounded pride.

“Oh my Gods, Big Bad he’s just my gay former coworker. It’s no big deal. Look he’s gone let’s just eat. She closed the door. Darnell was a lot but she didn’t want her recent booty call to kill him. Besides what if Darnell recognized him?

"Why would I be afraid?" Zack didn't move yet. He wanted the answer to his question, no matter how loud his stomach growled in agreement with her. “He’s a big personality, he would have called somebody if he recognized you. Also I happen to like him. He saved me from so many pervy creeps from my old job. One even tried to get me into his home by force and Darnell kicked his ass. I owe him. Although if he didn’t recognize you he would have hit on you for sure. He’s mad thirsty."

"...Not helpful," Zack muttered, sitting and grabbing a slice of pepperoni and wolfing it down. “Not into guys?” She asked grabbing a veggie slice. She had to resist the urge to laugh. Zack looked really confused. Into guys? What's that mean? He rolled his eyes and grabbed another pizza. She never answered his question and now she was just confusing him.

“You look really confused Big Bad. What’s going on?” She delicately munched on the end of the slice. "I haven't known what the fuck you been talking about for the whole time," he said."and what's big bad for?" At first she was shocked and maybe a little annoyed but she kept her inner negative emotion in; it would serve no purpose, so she decided to dissect her explanation. “Ok, do you know what gay means?"

"Gay?" He'd heard the word, a few times, but he'd never really put any thoughts into what it means. "I've heard people use it, but I don't know what it means,” He began to feel uncomfortable, as he often did when someone tried to teach him. “It just means a guy who wants to fuck other guys and never women because we’re not sexy to them. Darnell is one of those.” Dammit I have never been so blunt in my life. “As for the afraid question some people are uncomfortable with people like Darnell. It’s not because he’s scary but because they don’t know how to react to him. He’s harmless I swear. Plus I would be sad if he was gone.”

"That's weird, why would people care who you fuck?" Zack reached for another pizza. He didn't see "being gay" as a big deal. He did think it was pretty weird that people would react to it by being uncomfortable. Who cares?“

"Because they think it’s their business. People can be stupid like that,” "I guess so," He finished it in a few bites and stood, going to flop back onto the bed. “And for your last question, Big Bad, it was just a nickname.” "Why that nickname?" He asked, furrowing his brow. She didn't want to tell him that it was because he reminded her of the Big Bad Wolf from Red Riding Hood. He might either think she was insulting him or find an excuse to kill her for it.

“Well, for one thing you are taller than me. I’m actually shorter than most women by about 2 inches. Funny enough I used to hate being short but only as a kid. My younger family grew up and are now taller than me. One even called me 'shrimp'. I admit, I hated it but I’m ok with it now. By the way, are you ok with me sleeping here?"

"Sure, go ahead," Zack scooted over on the bed a little. “I’ll go get my pajamas from the car,” She wanted to hide her inner smile. So she just put it off as a casual response. She went to leave with the key card and car keys. When she gets outside she is ambushed by an older creep. ”Well hello Sweetheart,” he says in an all too eager voice. “Uh hello,” her voice shaken. She coughs “Look I’m not really in the mood to talk right now I want to grab my stuff and go back to my room to sleep.” She hesitated saying the word 'clothes' so she didn’t give him ideas.

He just growled at her like she was prey,”You got to learn to be more social, Love.” He must not take no for an answer every time. Really? Did he think he had the right to tell her to socialize with him at around 10 pm outside a motel? Despite being cold and tired? Nah she didn’t have to take this. “Please leave me alone I’m not kidding!” She said with more confidence. Then she felt her back hit something hard. He slammed her against the door of her motel room. “Play nice, Pretty Lady, this won’t take long. You are so rude.” He waved her discomfort as if it were nothing.

She smacked his hands away harshly. There was a very audible crack noise from the smack that seemed to echo forever. “Oh I’m the rude one?! Who the hell tries to socialize with a stranger at 10 o’clock at night?! A creep that’s who!” She gave him a very acidic glare showing no fear to this disgusting creature. Fear feeds animals like him. “So get off me you no account trash bastard!” He did give her a look of shock but that quickly turned into fury.She expected him to fight. Men with delicate prides often did fight back. She expected him to smack her around, tear at her clothes, and do things that would kill her soul. He tried that. He did get to slam her head to the door by grabbing her hair but that was as far as he got.

The door of the room swung open to reveal a very pissed off Zack, "The fucks going on?!" He looked at the guy, then at her. "Whaddya doing?" He barked, reaching for his knife. "I can handle this creep," she insisted. “…Done it before. Let me get one good shot on him,"she beseeched. She heaved a heavy breath. Now her head hurt a little but the adrenaline was starting to give her temporary relief. It must have been a combination of her night with Zack, her fed up attitude with Black Hat, Darnell's close call, or just about any one of those things that must have been clouding her mind. While she had fought off creeps before she wasn't in her right mind.

The creep must have let go of her hair and though the guy beyond the door was her boyfriend. She did manage to get a punch in his eye, though quite clumsily. While the woman certainly wasn't afraid of him she wasn't a black belt either. "Aagggh you bitch!" the creep snapped. "Why don't you find something creative to call me you crusty, cantankerous, old crab!” Man, it felt good to stand up for herself.

Zack just lunged and picked her up, moving her out of the way. With a delirious grin, he whipped his blade from its holder and kicked out, knocking the man back. Isaac pounced on him and slit his throat. The lady felt a little affronted but not really affected. “I don’t feel sorry for him. I would have let you kill him, you know.” Zack was standing over the corpse, grinning over at her, almost predatory. The red hadn't quite left his eyes. He blinked a few times, looking from the dripping blade to her, "…What?"

The woman did see his predatory glint but kept her face as calm as she possibly could. “I hate garbage like him. I have dealt with people like him since I was 14. Wish I could have gotten a few more shots in for all the girls he hurt.” She decided to look towards the corpse angrily. “I’m glad he’s dead otherwise.”

She marched towards her car to grab her stuff including a belt in the trunk. It sat next to a suitcase with all her clothes, toiletries, and other essentials. She opened the belt first to reveal 2 vials (1 white and viscous looking and one dull red) and a draw string bag inside. She took the diluted looking red vial. She unscrewed the cap, tipped the vial over her finger, and flipped it back up. She hoped it would work the way she wanted it to. She applied the red substance over her wound on her head. The guy left enough force on her to give her a minor head trauma. Enough to create a rough cut or bloody abrasion. The application hurt, so naturally she hissed from the stinging pain. Soon enough the wound healed itself as though it never existed. She hoped the diluted V would only heal the application area and not all of her. She also hoped that the notorious and nasty side affects wouldn’t be as bad. Like water in alcohol. Last thing she needed was to be high near a serial killer, that’s asking for death.

She put away her supernatural med kit. Grabbing her suitcase she marched back to the motel door. But just before she did, she looked at the corpse with its face filled with eternal horror. Yet its eyes were glazed over. She decided he was an ugly thing and hoped the devil wanted him. Without a word, she kicked the corpse in the face as hard as she could. The impact made an unceremonious thud noise.

Isaac's eyebrows shot up when she kicked the guy (not that one could see it) he watched her lug her suit case back into the room and he followed her, closing the door behind him. "Are...You...y'know... fuckin' ok?" He asked, tilting his head and peering at her. What happened to the cut on her head? It was there a minute ago.

She coughed trying to gain some composure, “I may be a little high right now, but kicking that guy made me feel better. I’m on V to heal my head.” She hauled her heavy bag with one hand onto the bed without trouble. She grabbed her oversized shirt inscribed with, ‘Fuck you, you fuckin’ fuck' on it and a pair of black and burgundy plaid sleepy pants. She also pulled out some underwear and black socks.

"Hah? V? What's that?" He made his way over to where she had set her case and looked at it. He'd never had a suit case. Just the clothes on his back.That’s when she noticed something in her case. She gasped audibly. She pulled out a stick shaped item and held it carefully in her hands, "Mom must have left this in my bag while I wasn't looking.”

“V? It's vampire blood it makes you feel weird but in a good way and it gives the user temporary healing abilities and super strength," she said while holding her item. “It can be addicting, cause some people to see things that aren't there, and out of control sexually, which is why it's illegal. But I diluted it so it shouldn’t be too bad.” Zack just stared blankly at her. She was talking about vampire blood and being amazed at a stick. ‘What a weird chick,’ he mused. “But she’s interesting too.”

He nodded slowly, "What's the stick then?" Man, he was starting to feel like a fuckin’ kid or something. "It's a shillelagh, it’s a whacking stick from Ireland. It belonged to my Great-Great-Great Aunt, so it's a family heirloom. Since I seem to attract a lot of creeps, I would keep it with me. Mom must have been worried about me. It's essentially a minor weapon with an iron rod inside. I wished I could have used it on the garbage outside. That would have been fun," she smiled, but it was an acidic smile.

Zack just nodded again. He felt he might be out of his league here, with all this new information. "You like to kill people?" He asked, after a minute. She paused, "No but I don't mind giving some people a headache they won't forget. So if I start to see things that aren't there you now know why," She said taking the ugly but trusty stick and bounced it on her palm. She put it back in the suit case. "I'm going to shower, hopefully I don't start staring at the soap for five minutes," she said jokingly.

"Ok..." He grinned, "let me know if ya' need help." He remembered when Ray saw that giant snake that wasn't really there. It had been interesting. He went over and pressed buttons on the small television until it switched on. "Will do, if you need someone to build traps and hack into someone's computer, I'm your girl she said without looking back." She had to keep from giggling. Crap she was high.

"Ok, I'll remember that-" he began flipping between channels. Eventually, he sat down in front of the television. She unzipped her dress, clumsily kicking her heels off She nearly fell over the toilet. ‘Well, this is something to write home about,’ she thought sarcastically. Picking up a towel from the rack she hung it over the curtain rod.

30 minutes later she toweled herself off, taking special care to carefully and meticulously comb out her hair. She left it down for bed, then took the perfume from her zombie head purse. She spritzed her hair, chest, and arms. Putting on her nightwear wasn't as bad as she thought. So far she only had a giggling spell and maybe some not very decent thoughts about her new murder happy partner. Nothing she couldn't control right?

Zack appeared to be mesmerized by the television, unaware of his surroundings. He heard her giggle, but didn't think much of it. Eventually, he found himself sprawled eagle on the mattress, watching the show upside down. She emerged once again from the bathroom and tossed the towel over-dramatically into the bathroom. Crawling into bed she laid belly down. She asked, "What are you watching?"

“I...don't know." It was some gory horror flick with lots of blood and girls screaming. Isaac seemed to be really enjoying it, though, chuckling whenever a person was killed. He glanced at her with his uneven eyes, then focused back on the tv. “Huh, looks like Jeepers Creepers. I never saw it before but I hear good things about it.” She liked horror movies too.

He shrugged again, "Couldn't tell ya’. I was just flippin' channels, ya' know?" He sat up, shoving his hair away from his face and stretching. “If you really want to see a gore fest watch stuff from Eli Roth. That guy knows how to churn a stomach. Hostel really pulls all the stops on the torture stuff. Though I hear some foreign films really let loose,” she explained.

He just kinda stared at her. "Huh?" Her words just sorta flew over his head. Eli Roth? Who was that? Foreign films? He blinked, "You must be pretty smart, huh?"

"Eh I guess" she shrugged. "Wasn't very smart of me to go looking up Black Hat's secrets via his computer systems. Which was how I got caught in the first place. I knew I shouldn't have but I got curious and maybe cocky. The idea of giving him a tiny crack in his security would have been a treat. Guy views himself as untouchable.”

The killer drew another blank. Security systems? Like...alarms. On houses. Ok, but...very good alarms? For stuff? "What made you want to mess with this weird dude?" He asked. He flopped back down, huffing. The television couldn't hold his attention for long, no matter what it played, and he wasn't sleepy. He started to just move a bit; his fingers, his toes, just anything.

“He's the most powerful being on earth, both relating to money and physical power. He used to be a big name in the super villain game. Even the most powerful superheroes won't try to stop him. For a hacker like me, we can't help but want to knock him down a few pegs just to see how he'd react. Maybe I could have sold the information and got rich but I got caught. Still if I live through this, no more creepy dark web crap; I am quitting that for sure."She declared with finality.

She looked over towards Issac, seeing him stretch was a nice little show for her. ‘Superheroes?’ Zack didn't think those were real, at least, not until now. Hadn't he thought of himself as a "monster" for years? "Yeah…" he nodded, kind of getting what she was saying. It was great, knocking people off their pedestals.She flopped her head down in annoyance.

"So why do you kill?” A slow, terrible grin stretched across Zack's face as memories of the old man and his first victims faces bloomed in his mind. “...I like wiping the smiles off people's faces. Self-satisfied assholes! I love watching their joy fade away...as they realize these are their last moments." "In other words... I'm a monster.” His hair cast a shadow over his eyes but they glowed frighteningly through the shadow, as they had had done so with the garbage. "I was high as fuck how come you haven't killed me?” She asked calmly. Admittedly she though the look in his eyes was kinda hot? ‘Whaaaa? The hells wrong with me?' She thought.

"Uh..." He tilted his head. Why hadn't he killed her? He'd have done it, at first, but then she'd sparked his curiosity, talking about Black Hat and one night stands. "you...made me curious," he shrugged. "And you were high that whole time?"

“No just after the garbage attacked me,” she waved off his concern assuredly.“I guess I was weird enough to live then?” She thought to herself, ‘If those bullies in fifth grade had heard about this, they would be shocked and die. Who would have thought my quirkiness would be a virtue to save my ass?’

"Guess so." He hadn't really thought about it. 'Did she want him to kill her or something?' He blinked ‘…like Ray?’ "You... fuckin' want me to kill ya' or something?"

“No, absolutely not; I want to live for sure." She did her best to keep in an ironic laugh. "Besides if I die, Asshat pulls the plug on Mom and the animals I own.” He fidgeted more, getting hot. The bandages and hoodie weren't a fun combination. He shrugged the Jacket off, letting it pile on the floor. "That's good," he smiled. Hearing another 'I want to die please kill me' story would suck. It was much more fun when they wanted to live.

"Besides didn't you want me to find the asshole who burned you? I wouldn't be very much good if I was dead. Frankly, I want you to find him. He deserves what's coming to him." She supported her head in her hand.

“Yeah, It'll be painful!" That manic gleam was back in his eyes, almost tinting them red. He smiled at her."So how would you do it?" She asked, being curious now. "Not sure yet, I just know I'll make that fucker hurt," he said, the red only intensifying. "I'm sure you'll figure it out," she said encouragingly like a mother. Damn was that manic gleam hot. She wished she could stop but knew once she fixated on something... Well it was like trying to tear apart a stack of papers with one's bare hands: impossible.

"Ok so here's the plan I can meet you here at this motel 2 weeks from now. I'll get paid then for my job. I'll update if I found him and order food. Do you know how to use a phone? Do you remember what the guy looks like? Any tattoos or injuries he might have had?"

"He was…blonde, Short spiky hair," that was all Zack really remembered, “maybe he had a lip piercing…?” He frowned, looking at the wall. “Ok I can start with blonde males; I assume he's white? You also mentioned biting a chunk out of him, so I'll look into some medical records as well,” She got to typing this stuff down on her smartphone in case she didn't find him the first time. "Maybe he has a criminal record too. He has attempted to hurt a child maybe he's hurt other people too."

"Dunno," Zack replied, leaning over to watch her type. He couldn't read what was going on, so he watched the letters form blankly. She looked up at him, thinking to herself that grilling him might be irritating at best and traumatizing at worst. "Hey I'm sorry if bringing up these bad memories is painful. Though if you do remember something else, do tell me. It might save me some time."

She clicked her phone off and tossed it in the top pocket of her suitcase. "I don't remember much...I mean," he chuckled a little, holding up his hands, "I was on fuckin' fire.” "Anyway...what now?" He looked around again. She pulled out her laptop from another part of the suitcase,'I guess he's not big on talking about his feelings' she thought to herself. "Well, I'm going to try things the legal way then if I don't find anything I'll hack into the things the illegal way."

"Ok..." He nodded coming over to peer over her shoulder to see what she was doing. He'd never really been around computers. What's the point when you can't read? She gave a tiny yawn while covering her mouth with her hand, "I probably should set the alarm clock so I'm not late for tomorrow." It's 11 pm so she would be ok until midnight to sleep. She had to be in the manor at noon, which was unusually generous of her boss. 'Would be the worst first day of a job ever if I was late,' she thought while setting up the hotel alarm clock.

Then she relaxed against the pillows putting the laptop at her right side since she didn't have a lap top pillow on her. Might be something to order later.

He flopped back onto the bed next to her, still looking at the computer. It was so strange to him. He wanted to ask about it. He had lots of questions. But he could tell she was tired, or was trying to sleep, or something like that.

"Hey Big Bad, if a face you recognize pops up on this website let me know, ok?" She filtered out blonde, male, Age 35-45, 46-55, 56-64, and 65+ features were included, She also added the piercing feature just in case and criminal records which would include assault and arson. She also added injuries into the filter. She also had a feeling burn injuries might make the cut.

He snickered at the nickname, but watched the men flash across the screen. A couple looked like they could be him, but Isaac knew that he'd recognize him when he saw him. She slowly scrolled the faces across the screen not wanting to overwhelm her new partner. It was tedious but it was a start. She had to nod her head a few times to keep from drifting off while sitting up. Not the first time she woke up in front of the computer like a workaholic especially in college. Everywhere in town would have been closed so coffee while out wasn't an option she just had to keep going until she drifted off. ‘Great…’ she thought.

After a while of rather boring scrolling and heavy silence. Zack jerked upright. "That's him! The guy! He burnt me!" He pointed at the screen, teeth curling back into a snarl. "Oh that's him? Man he even looks like a douche." Indeed he did have blonde hair and a nasty look on his face, Greenish brown eyes, some scruff on the chin, burly build. And yes a criminal record. Looked like he was involved in arson, tried to sell a child off (possibly poor Big Bad), domestic abuse, public drunk and disorderly conduct, assault and battery, attempted murder among other misdemeanors. Man this guy was a piece of work. 'Hopefully he's not in the witness protection program, and changed his name on account of him.' she thought.

He glared at the screen like he might leap at it. Could she really find him? Could he kill him after all these years? A spark of sadistic light sprang up in his eyes. He hoped so.

The hacker looked at him worried he might punch the screen. “Uh… just please don't kill my laptop, it was expensive,"she requested to him. She copied and pasted the address on a digital document. Along with his name, phone number, and any other information she could use. Yeah this guy wasn't redeemable in her eyes.So let Big Bad have his fun.

Besides, she came from a family that was addicted to something or other. She knew first hand, never to get between an addict and what they wanted. Whether it was cigarettes, alcohol, or something they weren't even supposed to own. In Big Bad's case he got the urge to murder. She logged off of the computer and safely put it away in her suitcase, cushioned by her clothes. Stretching her arms out she groaned a bit. The motion made her chest very noticeable. Then she crawled under the covers laying on her right side. "Are you going to be ok?" She asked, hoping he wasn't going to go on a rampage while she was sleeping. He did look kind of restless.

"Huh?" He shrugged, crawling back to lay down.."Yeah I'm ok." He pretended not to notice her chest and rolled over on to his back. He was restless, honestly . He wanted to kill more. She still wasn't entirely convinced but she was too tired to act on it. Though she hoped he might stay in bed with her. She yawned again covering her mouth with her hand. "I never did thank you for saving me from the garbage outside, so thank you," she said sleepily.

"Eh? It's cool." He relaxed a bit, staring up at the ceiling.She snuggled a little closer. Maybe she could get him to stay if he held her? It was worth a shot. "Are you ok with me sleeping closer? I get cold easily." "You go ahead and do you, man. I don't mind." Zack didn't really mind. It wasn't his business where she slept, honestly. She slinked under his arm, placing her head on his chest. Her arm wrapped around him. She could hear his heartbeat. Goddess she hoped this was ok.

Oh so … that's what she meant. Ok, Zack wasn't exactly used to it, but, it was kinda warm and nice. He decided not to react to it, and just let it be. Soon, he drifted into a light sleep. 'He's not reacting to this, I guess he doesn't hate it so that's fine.' She drifted off to sleep. But before she did she could have sworn someone else was in the room. Must have been her sleepy brain playing tricks.

Eventually, morning came. Isaac woke early with the urge to pee. He got up and went to the bathroom, doing his best not to move her.

She was still asleep but during her sleep she couldn't move. Somehow she could see the room they were in and there was something very familiar in the corner of the room. She desperately wanted to wake up. The only thing she truly feared was in the room with her. It was her future boss sitting at the messy table with the pizza box. The silhouette of a skinny humanoid with a top hat, stared menacingly at her. "Tick Tock Miss Autumnborn, Tick tock," he said threateningly. He suddenly ran to her with a twisted face. His eyes were red and pupil-less; screeching in multiple voices, His mouth multiplying into drooling maws with so many teeth."OR SHOULD I SAY MISS CONROY?!" His voice cackled demonically. Great he knew her real name.

"Leave her be," said a languid voice behind him. It was the figure from earlier. Just before she fell asleep. She was blonde, with big dull blue eyes. Her eldritch boss growled at the new intruder."THIS IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN APPARITION!"Black Hat stared at the figure angrily. "Actually it is." She continued unafraid of him. She was good to my Zack so leave her be. The ghost materialized something out of thin air and it glowed. Black Hat turned angrily to the hacker. "This isn't over you are mine at Noon." That's when she woke up.

Zack walked out of the bathroom and eyed the boxes of pizza. He felt the hair on the back of his arms stand up. He swore he felt a familiar presence. Still, he ignored it and went for the cold pizza. He was hungry again. He sat in the same chair as Black Hat from her dream, flipped open the top box, growled at its emptiness, and tossed it aside. He opened the box underneath and grabbed a slice.

She still had an hour before her alarm went off but she was sure she didn't feel like sleeping. "God damn sleep paralysis," she muttered. She saw Big Bad there and despite the fact that he never did a thing to hurt her she still never wanted to be near that chair again. She didn't care for breakfast at the moment, so a shower it was. She pulled out her jasmine and rose scented shower gel, favorite shampoo and her clothes for the day. He ate a half of the pizza, leaving three slices. Then he looked around. What was he supposed to do once she left? Sit here? Finally she emerged with a black blazer jacket, a knee high skirt, and a white blouse. Her now dried hair tied into a bun, and she decided to wear the shoes from last night. She wore a similar pair of stockings from last night.

"Hey Big Bad did you sleep well?" He shrugged, mouth full of pizza. "Mmhmm, 'bout you?" He asked around the mouth full of food. He could really go for a soda, be didn't really feel like trying to get one. So he just kinda scowled at the pizza box. "Not very well, I was stuck in a nightmare, that's called sleep paralysis." 'I think the V must have caused that,' she mused. "Um by the way I think my boss visited me in my sleep. I wouldn't be surprised that he could do that. I hear he can do some pretty insane stuff. Hopefully it was just the v drug."

Zack just stared blankly again. Man, this shit was so weird. "And?" He swallowed his food. "What'd he want?" He pushed the box in her direction, "Eat, man."She stared at the leftover pizza still not feeling hungry. "He was taunting me telling me my time was up. His face got all scary and contorted." She swallowed uncomfortably at the memory. "But then there was a ghost that came and told him to leave me alone. It was a girl ghost, I guess.”

"Girl ghost?" Isaac asked. She didn't make a move towards the pizza, so he flipped the lid shut and slid it a bit away from him. She scrunched her face trying to remember more. "She used something that must have annoyed him.It was glowing, whatever it was. He told me it wasn't over yet. She said I was good to somebody. She was blonde with big blue eyes. There was no emotion behind them. She sounded very uncaring. Man, V can make you see crazy stuff even in diluted doses." She looked at the serial killer in front of her. "Are you ok?"

He wasn't moving, at all, not an inch. Blonde? Big, empty, blue eyes? That sounded like Ray. But Ray was dead. And she'd never known her. "That... sounds like a girl I knew," he managed after a minute. After that minute, she shrugged and said, "Uggh too early in the morning for Ghost Adventures. While i'm not hungry, I'll grab a coffee." She saw a vending machine earlier. She grabbed the card key and her money. He sat at the table, staring blankly.

‘Ray? What was she doing?’ He ran a hand through his hair.She looked outside to find a very unpleasant smell hit her nose. "Hey Big Bad, we forgot to put the 'garbage' out," she indicated the now rotten body. "Oh," he walked over and look at it. "Eh," he waved it off. He was squinting at the morning light. He wasn't used to it

“You just leave them there don't you?” She asked this of him point blank. She kind of hoped he might help her put 'it' in the dumpster where he belongs. "Yup," he replied. Honestly, he was surprised it had started to smell all ready. That fast? He'd never noticed it on B6. Then again, he would usually come back to find the corpses gone. "Why? Is it a problem?" He asked, eyeing her wearily. "Well it might bring too much attention to us. Besides aren't you on the run?" She continued. "How am I supposed to get in contact with you to take down the guy who hurt you if we can't meet at the same place? The cops would be watching this place. We also gotta hurry I have to make the boat to take me to Hat Island so my slave master doesn't hurt Mom or the fur-babies."

He sighed, and went for the body, not saying anything. He scooped it up and made his way to the dumpster. She was right, though he didn't want to admit it. Carelessly, he tossed it in and glanced at it. Judging from the man's appearance, no one would be looking for him. He made his way back to her and scowled, “So... while you go off to this island I'm just supposed to wait here?"

"What do you usually do, like before I came around?" She tilted her head. "Travel and kill," he shrugged. Most of his life was just moving from place to place, killing. "Can you find a hideout until 2 weeks later? I get paid around that time. I could get you a prepaid phone after that." She did feel a little at a loss. She wished she had more time but she had to leave soon. He fidgeted. A phone? He could hide out for just about forever... but...he still couldn't read, or write, and could only count to three. "I can't...read...or write...or...or count," he said, voice on edge, defensive.

“Oh geez, I'm sorry I didn't know." She apologized profusely. She thought for a while. Fuck it! "Can you bum with somebody I know until I get back? It means no murder until I get back though." She hoped he would cooperate. "Bum with someone?" He chuckled, "Like who? I don't know anyone." He tossed up his hands a bit. Man, this was complicated. He couldn't see a solution here.

“I have a cousin you might be able to stay with. Thomas McSweeney is his name. But I have to have your word you won't kill him,” she looked at him firmly. Zack rolled his eyes, "Fiiiiine. He live around here?" "2 blocks away actually but let me call him first. She pulled out her phone sent $2000 onto her cousin's account on PayPal, then called him in Gaelic.

{Hey Cousin how are you ya limey bastard?} x

{Cousin? Oh no it's you why the feck are you calling? Didn't run out of V did yea?"} He responded Sleepily/jokingly.

{No, I gave you 2k on your bank account I need you to watch a guy for 2 weeks, keep him safe.}

{Why the hell did you do that? This sounds fishy Cousin.}

{I know but he saved my life and killed the guy in the process. I know you won't snitch}.

{Aye I won't} He sounded weak voiced.

{But still he sounds dangerous how do you know he won't strangle my drug dealin' self?}

{He is a guy of his word. Come to the motel on 10th. If he can get to somewhere safe it would mean a lot to me besides he could rough up your more shitty customers like a body guard.}

{All right what does the sonofabitch look like?} {Dark hair, bandages, red pants, brown hoodie, he's not subtle so he would be easy to spot.}

{All right I'll be there in a jiffy}

{Thank you so much, love you Tom.}

{Yeah yeah, you great damsel you.} He teased. She hung up the phone and looked towards Issac. "Good news he's coming.”While she could have easily put him up in another motel she kind of didn't want him to be left unattended. He was like a little kid in a way. A big tall kid really. The top of her head actually came to about the hollow of his collarbone.

He didn't seem like a smart guy but she never judged a person on their intelligence, appearance, or much else unless they did something wrong directly to her or her loved ones. She felt like she had no right to judge others.After all she did do some things others might consider not very nice.

He listened to the call blank-faced, not understanding a thing. When she hung up, he looked at her, expecting an answers. "He'll be here soon but I gotta rush to the boat okay? Thanks for the fun night and I'll see you in 2 weeks. Behave till then Big Bad." She hugged him. "By the way he drives a grey car and has black hair like me with a green streak in it. His eyes are blue and he's a bit on the small side,"

"Ok" Zack said, crossing his arms.Then an Ulster-man accented voice spoke to them from a grey car,"Hey you two love birds. Am I interrupting anything?" Indeed he did have black hair and a green streak over his bangs. He kind of looked emo-scene styled. He had a similar face to his cousin. They could have been twins.

"Shut up," said the hacker in good nature. "Ok you two have a good two weeks I really need to run." If she could have run like a bullet she would have. She shoved her zombie purse into the passenger seat and threw the suitcase into the back trunk. She gave the card key card to Big Bad hoping he could get his scythe again. Shit she forgot coffee! Looking at the time she probably couldn't get any at this point. She had a promise to keep after all… Two actually, both to family and to Big Bad.

She drove towards the harbor. The ferry to Hat Island accepted cars onto the deck.So she could just drive it up, get out and maybe buy a small bag of pretzels or something. She decided to look for any files on Big Bad as well on her laptop. Issac Foster Birth date: unknown though estimated to be July 24. Once lived in an illegal orphanage. The proprietors bodies, along with several children, were discovered on the grounds of the orphanage. Issac Foster is suspected of killing the proprietors. Autopsy reports reveal that the children starved to death. It is assumed Issac Foster killed in self defense, in order to escape.

No educational record exists of Issac Foster. 'He really can't read or write,' She thought.

He is suspected of killing at least 5 other people including Rachel Gardener who he had shown a killer's obsession for. Rachel Gardener was discovered dead in 2016 of fatal slash wounds at age 14.

She saw a picture of Rachel. 'Holy Crap that's the ghost girl!'

She seemed fond of him in the dream, why though? Did she want to die? She only knew what this profile consisted of. She had so many questions but no time to ask them. All she could do was stare at the screen.Well, if that girl saved me, Black Hat really must have been in my room last night. The thought sent her shivers up her back and a queasiness in her stomach. She read further into his profile.

That he was burned by an unknown individual. (She knew who the guy was and he was going to die horribly. Hopefully this would make Big Bad happy.)

His blood type was B. Uh Oh! Hopefully a vampire doesn't take a fancy to him. They loved rare blood types like A, B, or even AB.

He has confessed to never lying while under police custody. He explained further that he hated liars. "Good to know," She thought. He also preferred to be called Zack. After a year long imprisonment Issac Foster was condemned to death but escaped from said prison. His goal seemed to be recapturing Rachel Gardener. Evidence suggests she willingly went with Foster.

This was quite the past to dig up and she felt heavier somehow for it. 'Still I know more about him.' She smiled subtly. Hopefully Big Bad and her cousin got along until she got back. Her anxiety was building.


	2. Stress crys and work orientation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Persephone settles in and has a small cry.

Persephone was just putting her laptop back in her bag when a sudden storm came from out of nowhere. The clouds were black like smoke and the thunder rolled like an animal’s growl. “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We will be coming onto the shore of Hat Island very soon, but for the safety of our passengers we ask you all to come to the lower deck.” She wasted no time in getting below before the inevitable crowd blocked the door to the deck. It was crowded inside in minutes. Everybody was accidentally bumping into each other, everybody in each other’s personal space. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. A few men were squished against Persephone and internally she was freaking out.

It wasn’t long before she felt and heard an enormous bang across the ship. It sounded metallic. She could hear a voice saying that everybody had to come out on the deck now! At first no one moved, then a metallic claw banged through the door. What blasted through the now destroyed passage, was a giant robot at least 9 feet tall. Persephone saw these guys before, they could be really mean. They were called HatBot Sentinels. They were some of Black Hat’s muscle, aside from the infamous Lizard woman, Demencia.

“Everyone up now!” Said a voice coming from the robot. There was a holograph of Dr.Flug, Black Hat’s scientist, projected from the chest of the robot. The Doctor spoke first but the Sentinel was more intimidating. “Come on I don’t have all day!” the Sentinel said and pulled out a machine gun from its clawed hand, shooting the deck above. Everybody ran to try to get through in a panic.

Persephone was knocked over before she could start to run and people almost crushed her. She covered her head with her arms to avoid the impact. She even used her suitcase as protection. Again the door was blocked for a bit. Still it didn’t matter because the sentinel that held the holograph of the doctor found her. “Not very obedient, are you?” the Doctor chided. “But the crowd knocked me over,” she defended. The Doctor seemed to freeze for a moment as if considering her statement. “Very well Miss Autumnborn I will forgive it this one time. But if you make any further trouble for me I will let my boys tear your family apart,” he sad darkly. “I understand,” she stated blankly. Trying not to show emotion around him would have been her best bet.

True she was not afraid of him or his robots but her family was another matter. While she didn’t want to die she knew she wouldn’t attempt to go up against a Sentinel, or Black Hat for that matter. If the Doctor thought as her boss did, she had to be smart and not mouthy. If he didn’t have the organizations resources or the Sentinels he clearly designed, he would have been a weakling. He was tall, thin, wearing a paper bag on his head. Frankly he wasn’t very intimidating at first glance. But she did see footage of him tying down the infamous Mojo Jojo and cruelly was about to inject him with a glowing green fluid at the end of a villains orientation video. She wasn’t going to test him. Even if she could best him in the physical department, he must be prepared for quite a few outcomes.

Suddenly the Sentinel picked her up grabbing her suitcase roughly. “Please be careful I need those for work,” she said hoping the doctor would see further reason. She needed the files on the guy who burned Issac, among other things. “I’m sure you do Miss Hacker. Imagine, a black hat hacker working for Black Hat.” He smiled and laughed, amused by his own joke.

Persephone weakly laughed at the joke, “…Yeah.” She didn’t count herself as a black hat hacker but she did break into people’s private lives on her computer screen. Not so much to be a douche unless they wouldn’t stop picking on her. Though Black Hat was the first VIP she ever tried to mess with. She counted herself as a grey hat hacker, a sort of antihero.

She was helping a murderer get revenge on a guy who tried to burn him as a kid; so that’s kind of in vigilante territory. She also ruined her middle school bully’s life, has a drug dealing cousin, she came from a family of addicts, has hung out with villains and anti heroes alike, among other things.

Her good points were that she considered rape, sexual harassment, hurting a child or animal, systematic sexism and racism, all punishable in her eyes.

She could be empathetic but also vengeful.

The robot still carried her like a mere doll. Their legs extended to accommodate the deep water of the bay. The claws weren’t comfortable hanging onto her by her waist. Still they didn’t hurt her back scratches from last night. She winced a few times as they were walking her across the water to the island. One sentinel carried her car with ease, like it was a pan of brownies. It wasn’t long before they reached the island’s shore. There were several houses and businesses ranging from Mom and Pop shops to common chains.

The pain in her waist became unbearable. “Dr.Flug could we rest a moment my waist hurts from your guy here holding me roughly,” she gently protested.

“I’m sorry but the boss is on a schedule and if we rest now, we will be late,” he explained matter of factly.

‘Guess I have to endure this,’ she thought mournfully. She decided to try to focus on the horizon ahead though the pain was way more attention arresting. They did reach the shore soon enough but it was the middle of the Island that they had to get to. It would take some time with more pain to endure. It didn’t help the fact that the moment that the manor was in view, that the realization of her imprisonment hit her. She wanted to cry, scream, fight, do anything to not be in this situation. But she decided to hold it in until bed. She didn’t want to be in this demon’s clutches. She knew he would be cruel, slowly bring her self worth down. Hold the axe threateningly, teasingly over her loved ones. He would make her life miserable and unlike other bosses that could make her life mildly terrible or inconvenient, she couldn’t leave. Ever.

Yes her family was in danger and yes that was scary. But being unable to leave, that was what terrified her the most. Her freedom, her independence coming under fire, really unmade her. Yet despite her wanting to break more and more with every step the Sentinel took, she had to keep it in. She had to. If you show your fear they will make you suffer for it. Her nerves were shot. It was difficult to just sweat it out. She wished Big Bad was here to make her feel better. With his brave and brash remarks, predatory grin, and his unconquerable strength. He made her feel protected. Especially when he said he wasn’t afraid of him. He viewed himself as a monster and she heard the expression that only a monster can kill other monsters. She couldn’t remember where she heard that either. Still he was human despite the bloodlust. He wasn’t something supernatural like a vampire or a werewolf. No, he was metaphorically a monster. And maybe that was what she needed. Still, whether he could stand against a non-human monster is what prevented her from asking this killer to kill her boss.

After her night of ‘love and bliss’ as she called it, he seemed to like her. But how much he liked her was up in the air. Dr.Flug messed around with a button pad and a sound like something winding down reverberated around the property. The Sentinel went through the gothic spear like gates surrounding the giant hat shaped house and fit her through the Gothic Victorian door.

As soon as his claws unwrapped itself around her side, the pain came in waves around her left waist. She hissed from her discomfort. The doctor looked at her momentarily, as if she were a small insect temporarily diverting his attention. “He is in through that door,” he instructed her to a pair of elaborate gold double doors. There were hat symbols enameled on the doors. Aside from that, the house itself was very gloomy. Persephone certainly liked Gothic styled anything but it had an air of narcissism to it because of the hat icons. Not to mention the paintings adorning the walls were all of the Eldritch who held her chains. It made her want to roll her eyes but she dared not.

She fearfully went to the door, knocking meekly on it. “What?!” A scratchy voice hissed from within. “Uh it’s me, Persephone.” she instantly felt dull after saying that. “Come in,” he said after a pause. It sounded neutral, neither happy nor unhappy. She couldn’t help but feel like she was walking into a lion’s den or the depths of hell, of her own accord. It was her fault after all.

  
She gingerly opened the door to find him sitting at his desk reading a newspaper. On the front cover read, Missing Children, Chimp, and Heroes Further Baffle Authorities. “Ahh good let’s discuss the terms of your employment further, Miss Autumnborn,” the monster sitting at his desk, changed his tone to sound more gleefully evil.

“You will be doing maid duties with the Bear 505, ugh!” he paused to let out a disgusted grimace. “…in addition to your computer duties whenever I request. You will clean the gravestones on the lawn, serve tea at precisely at 1 o’ clock with cyanide or else,” he demanded this with a demonic change in his tone. “You will take business calls; walk, feed, and bathe Demencia, assist Dr.Flug in anyway possible, dust my gorgeous likenesses.” He used his arm to motion towards the paintings and sculptures that resembled him. And he continued on with his requests. What could Persephone do except comply with these demands? “Now here’s what you cannot do. There is a wing on the left side of the manor with a door covered in chains. If you value your life (and frankly after I’m through with you, you won’t) don’t go in there.” He looked like he was holding back a laugh. “You will be given a tracking device on your leg and if you attempt to remove it, your family will suffer for your mistake. You will be given your own room, but there will be a weekly inspection. So don’t bring in anything weird.” He rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. ”You will be given 2 days off a week and will work 8-12 hours, one break a day. During your off days, you are not to contact any sort of hero, antihero, or anything in-between. You will only be allowed off the island on your days off. But it must be under my permission. Is that understood? If I so much as find even a hint of insubordination, I will feed your arm to my giant snake Lil Jack.”

  
Persephone nodded her head and kept her expression neutral,“Yes sir.”  
“Good, Dr.Flug will give you the tour…now get out!” He pulled his newspaper back up rudely. Not even bothering to think another thought over the matter.

Persephone was about to walk out when…”Oh and sweet dreams tonight.” He gave out a blood curdling laugh as she paused knowing the dream was really him contacting her, invading her head. She didn’t want to spend anymore time in that office then she had to. She walked out ready to cry or have an anxiety attack but decided to hold it in until later. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

Dr.Flug wasn’t in the immediate area…so what was she supposed to do? Just wander around aimlessly? Soon enough, a Hatbotler strolled up to her and bowed, “Miss Autumnborn, I am Hatbotler 2.6667H. Dr.Flug, my benevolent creator, has asked me to show you around in his place. He has other creations to attend to.”  
“Okay, thank you,” she kindly and softly said. Although her voice cracked sorrowfully when she spoke.

She followed him from the foyer, to the graveyard, to the entrance to the lab. Persephone paused and looked at the lab not feeling like being social at the moment. Truthfully she just wanted a good cry, “Um…Hatbotler can I not go into the lab right now? I just want to be shown to my room so I can get settled.” He looked at the human woman, a mechanical expression of confusion graced his faceplate, “If it makes you feel more at home Miss Autumnborn.” She couldn’t help but smile at how kind this short robot could be. The boss must hate this about him. Hopefully he didn’t kill her, so far, only friend here.

She followed him upstairs back in the foyer going up three flights of stairs along the way. She wasn’t in proper heels for this kind of exercise. While mid heels were usually comfortable, her stress made her feel too sensitive. But she kept it in. Finally they came to her room. It was on the right side of the manor, opposite of where the lab and the crashed plane resided.

Inside, Persephone found a large canopy bed draped in red fabric with a large window like door leading to a balcony on the opposite side of the door. The wall paper was red with embossed hats. There were pictures of Black Hat all over the walls some big 40x50’s and some small 8x10’s. Most of them consisted of Black Hat, creepy imagery, or of some tragic event. To her right, opposite her bed, stood a vanity and some drawers. She had access to an en suite bathroom and a closet. She saw that her suitcase was placed at the foot of her new bed. Man, she really wished Big Bad or her mother were there to hold her and calm her.

“Hatbotler, you have been very kind and helpful to me. But if I could have some time alone in my room?” She requested of him. The small robot looked at her as gently as his face plate would allow and once again bowed to her, “Very good Miss Autumnborn.” And he so he left. Persephone collapsed on the bed, kicking her shoes off and stripped her clothes off. She neatly folded them next to her. She could feel a hot prickling in her eyes and it was like a dam had been opened. She covered her mouth as she wept, making pathetic breathing noises. Unbeknownst to her, someone was watching.

‘Pathetic creature,’ he thought as he watched from a painting in her room. He felt no sympathy for her or her situation ‘What did she have to cry about?’ He gave her an impressive room, her family is still alive, and he gave her time to get her affairs in order. He would never understand her. Although her crying sounds did make him smile sadistically; especially since he was the one causing it.

Still that apparition was a problem. Who was she and why did she care? Who’s Zack? Why was Persephone involved with this mysterious Zack? This was all strange and he hated not knowing things. He saw another figure lay next to her but he didn’t care to find out who he was at the time. He figured he was a stranger and nothing more. But if it’s one thing he learned in his eons of existence, is that even one tiny detail could undo his organization. He needed information and eyes everywhere. It made him all the more fearful. Everything from power to brains, he exercised every advantage. Subsidiaries, money, influence, he had it all but the organization needed to be brought into the future, especially the internet.

It was easy to influence the government in his territories to cancel net neutrality. Very easy indeed. He could imagine all those despair filled faces as some of their work was censored. However this wasn’t enough and he had big plans for the net.

He therefore had plans for her.


	3. Video games, blood, and hydrogen peroxide

Tom looked at the guy who stood next to his cousin.  
And c’mon he looked dangerous,  
But Sephy gave him a lot of money to help this guy out so he wasn’t going to be a douche to family.  
“Hey over here my dude!” He shouted over to get his attention.  
Zack looked at him like he might want to leave, but when he yelled for him, Zack answered. "Ok! Ok, man, I got ya'! Sheesh!" He started towards him, hefting his scythe over his shoulder.  
He saw him get in the car and held his hand out for him to shake it, “Pleased to meet ya Buachaill dána [bad boy], the name’s Tom McSweeney.”  
‘What's with the nicknames?’ Zack kept that thought to himself and shook the guys hand. "Call me Zack.”  
"All right then, so, what was my cousin in a hurry for anyway?" He asked starting the car, backing up out of the drive way of the motel. Isaac shrugged. "Some sort of new job for a company or something." Zack began to mess with the radio dials in this car too.  
“She did mention she got a job, but she wouldn't tell me details” Tom explained. He looked at the guy messing with his radio and didn't think much about it.  
"She isn't too happy about it, honestly " Zack replied, rolling the window up and down.  
“Really, why?" He narrowed his eyes. "Is it a boring computer IT job or a secretary job? I mean at least it's not a minimum wage fast food joint. She worked for a pizza place and a guy forcibly tried to take her into his home. Her coworker friend nearly got in trouble for defending her. She quit the next day."  
“Dunno," The killer answered. Honestly not much of what she'd said to him stuck. He still wasn't sure what was up with her job.  
They arrived at his house which was a pretty modest 2 floor suburban home. It was regular on the outside but took on a different appearance inside. In the living room, there were art prints everywhere on the walls. They ranged from Van Gogh, to prints from modern starving artists. The couch was maroon velvet and the carpet black shag. The walls were a coffee with cream color. The lamps on either side of the couch looked like they had dark red crystals hanging from the shades. The base of the lamps were gold color. It was a warm room overall.  
Isaac wandered over and looked at the art, not really getting any of it. He actually poked at one of the pieces and grumbled.  
Like that one? It's a print from a girl on a shopping website. I like to use some of my drug money to support starving artists. Especially since being an artist in this country makes it hard to get a job with the big names.  
"Huh" Zack didn't get much of it, especially 'shopping website'. However he didn't admit that to the other.  
“My cousin back there used to paint, but she quit one day. Don't know why she did either. She had a romantic style to her work. She painted dark fantasy images. She got inspiration from Tim Burton and Henry Fuseli.”

"...Who?" The killer asked. He was getting too lost now.

“I'll show you some of their work.” He pulled out his phone and showed him The Nightmare, and Thor Battling the Midgard Serpent by Henry Fuseli, then some Tim Burton twisty skinny humanoids.

“Huh," Zack didn't say much, but it was impressive to him.  
“Actually come to think of it I have one of my cousin's paintings right here,” he said. He pointed towards a black background with a white haired mermaid in its center. The hair was curling and floating in the air. Waves lapped beneath the rock she sat proudly on. In her left hand was a curved sword while in the other was an hourglass. The mermaid's face wasn't pretty in fact it looked frightening. Her eyes were all white like a dead fish, giving her a zombie like appearance with a fang filled smile.  
"Uuuuhhhhh...." Isaac walked over to it, angling his head. He had to admit, it was cool. Even though the killer had never been taught a thing about art, he appreciated it's creepiness  
"You can definitely see the Tim Burton inspiration here. By the way, don't tell her I showed you this. She'll get embarrassed." He sighed and his fringe bobbed with him. "Which is a shame because this made her happy."  
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Comin'," Tom walked over to the door and a scruffy looking guy with rings around his eyes stood outside the door. "Oh hi, back already?" He asked. 

The guy looked pretty intense. "Let's skip the pleasantries and get this done; I want to renegotiate the terms of our agreement," the guy growled. He was unnaturally pale and his eyes burned like grey stones. His flaxen hair was stringy and his vibe radiated unfriendliness. One minute he was outside the door, the next he was in the embroidered arm chair opposite the couch. Tom slipped onto the red couch, not exactly feeling like a king at the moment. 

The newcomer soon locked eyes on Zack. "Who's this?" He asked as if he was the one intruding.  
Zack glared at the guy from over by the prints. He offered no explanation at all. Just glared and held his scythe tightly.  
"Uh... just my cousin's friend is staying here for two weeks." He looked nervous and stuttered the words as if they would spill like tea.

Zack leaned against the wall, dropping his scythe so that the blade swung and rested on the floor. Isaac leaned on the pole, staring at the guy with his uneven eyes.  
"Does he know about what you do?" He glared back at the drug dealer.  
“Yea he does."  
The stranger looked at him and asked aggressively, "Is he one of your customers or something because I wanted to discuss with you about the deal we had about my blood." The stranger sniffed the air like a predatory wolf.  
"He's not a customer he's just needs a bed to sleep in for a while. He's not a threat," Tom began to sweat. He didn't want this to end up a blood bath. 

"Why does he smell good?" The stranger growled through his teeth causing the fangs in his mouth to click down and appear. 

"Mr.Chanticleer let’s not cause another scene like last week, ok?" He killed a group of his customers just because they were too loud to him. "What's your name boy? You're awfully quiet.” His mouth started to water. He was angry and hungry at the same time.

"Why does it matter?" Zack snapped. "Get whatever you want and get lost, ok?! Leave me alone." He hated guys like this. Ones who thought they were sooooo superior. Isaac wanted to tear him limb from limb.

To Chanticleer, he believed he was the superior species being a vampire and all. Sure he couldn't go out into the sun or touch silver, but he was stronger than a storm, faster than a human could blink, and had natural healing abilities.  
He felt the need to put this bandaged puppy in his place. "I can glamour you, force you onto your knees, and you would be sucking my cock. And you wouldn't remember a thing afterwards! So watch your mouth boy!" 

"Wait lets just-" Tom spoke, trying to calm the situation. "As for you Twink, you're lucky I don't hunt down your cousin and drain her dry. You want to sell my blood still? Then it's 75% of the profits go to me, instead of the usual 50% recompense!”

A low, awful growl slipped from the killers throat. This guy was an asshole. And Zack couldn't. Stand. It. With barely a blink he swung his scythe, catching the man by the chest. The blade was inches from digging into his heart. "SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!" Isaac hollared.

The vampire growled and lunged to grab for his throat looking like a worn out but frightening snake. "I might keep you as a blood pet. Go on ahead and struggle!" Some of his saliva hit Zack's bandages. He then tore at the bandages to get to his throat. He could taste the blood already. Then he heard a shot. A warning shot from Tom's specially designed silver bullet gun. "Zack, tear out his heart if you can," he instructed coldly.  
Zack happily obligated, struggling against the vampire. There were light cuts in his throat and the bandages were shredded. He dug the blade of his scythe deep into the man's ribs, causing blood to splatter. He kept going, slicing until he could reach right into the man's chest. Laughing, he reached right in and tore out his heart.  
Instantly the vampire burst into a bloody puddle; nothing but the puddle and some innards remained. "Well too bad about my carpet. You ok dude?"  
Isaac was now covered in the sticky liquid, but he didn't seem to mind too much. He nodded. "Just some shallow scratches in my neck. Man, I hated that guy!"  
"I have been hating him for weeks. I'll...find another donor I think." He breathed a sigh of regret yet relief. It was like losing a racist family member. You didn't feel that sorry. "My shower is down the hall to the right. I should get the hydrogen peroxide to clean up the blood."  
"Thanks. You got anymore bandages?" Zack asked, since his were ripped up and bloody.  
"I only have little bandages. I'll hit up the store and grab you some," he said regretfully. Since all the blood went into his carpet it couldn't be retrieved to be sold. Still he needed a better donor.  
The only reason he allowed Zack to kill him was because if anybody was in his house he is to protect his guests and make sure nobody got threatened. Chanticleer was not getting the message. So he didn't feel sorry for him.  
“ 'kay, thanks," Zack said, heading off to the bathroom.  
Tom changed his clothes while Zack was in the bathroom and left him a black t-shirt, some boxers, and baggy red pants, until he got him some clothes that fit. He went to the grocery store and grabbed some bandages. Judging from his appearance he needed a lot of them. He also got carpet cleaner and lots of hydrogen peroxide to help make the blood disappear. He also bought an entire jumbo pack of paper towel rolls. When the cashier rang him up, she gave Tom a weird look and he said with a sigh that he had a dog. The cashier laughed and told him she knew how he felt.  
When Tom came home he left the bandages on Zack's pile of new clothes and got to work on the blood puddle, now back in his older bloody clothes. Scrubbing that out and trashing the innards was a pain. In a bucket of hydrogen peroxide, he then put his old clothes in; it was his fifth bottle that he would use that night. Last time, when the late Chanticleer killed his college age customers, it was about ten bottles.

Zack emerged fully dressed in the new clothes, and with his hoodie slung over one arm. He came back into the living room and looked at it. "Everything going ok?"  
“Yeah I recommend putting your old clothes in the hydrogen peroxide. It will clear out the new stains, but I can't guarantee it will washout the old stains. Still worth a shot, right?”

 

"Yeah, ok." Zack dropped his old stuff into the bucket of peroxide, making sure to grab his hunting knife first

"I need takeout after this" he declared wearily. "Ya like Chinese takeout?"

"I'll eat anything," the killer shrugged, not really caring much.

He ordered two cartons of Chinese chicken lo mein with pork dumplings for delivery. Then he popped in an anime from his dvd shelf. "Do you mind if I watch a cartoon-?” before being interrupted by a loud squeaky meow.  
"Oh hey there, Fatty Burgers, did you wake up from your nap?” In walked a fat Scottish Fold cat with thick soft brown fur and a chubby white face surrounding green, inquisitive eyes. The creature looked up at Zack as though intrigued and bewildered. Then his owner started talking to him again. "Did you eat your food sweet boy?" The creature gave an affirmative meow. Zack was over at the television in a flash. He loved television! Especially cartoons and horror movies! Soon he was sitting on the floor peering up at the television with wide eyes, almost like a child.  
Tom put on a comedy anime since he needed something light. So he decided to put on Inuyasha. Well, a comedy-action anyway. Tom watched Zack sit like a kid and could see some resemblance between him and the title character.  
He wondered what the 'hell happened to him?' How did he and Sephy meet? Was it because all three of them were fucked up and each could sense that? He kept quiet as Zack watched the fight scene between the centipede demon and Inuyasha.  
Zack seemed to greatly enjoy the fight scenes, often laughing at them and pointing. He was unphased by the vampire from earlier. This was his life. Always had been.  
Tom wasn't much of a fighter he was more like a survivor. Try to talk his way out of things so it was nice to have a stronger guy help him under his roof. The clothes he put on were black slacks with suspenders and a white button up shirt. It fit his thin frame well enough.

Zack couldn't focus on the TV for long. He ended.up wandering into the kitchen and rummaging for food  
I got sandwich stuff in there if you need it.  
He was hungry already? I guess binge watching anime can make you hungry? Oh well, 'mi casa es tu casa' as they say.

Soon he heard his phone ring. He checked it out and it was Sephy. {“Hello?”}  
Mumbling cuss words Zack dug around until he found the soda and cereal. He then made a bowl and began to eat it.  
{“Heeey did everything go ok?”}He asked remembering that Zack said. {“Yeah I'm living in my boss' house with his other employees,”} Persephone confessed. She sniffed hoping her cousin wouldn't notice that she had been crying earlier. 

{“You live in his house, why?”} he asked hearing a slight sniffle in her voice. {“It's like a dorm situation. Anyway, it's good to hear from a familiar voice. How is our guest?”} She asked, desperate to change the subject.  
{“He has been good so far although Chanticleer is no longer with us.”} {“Ohhhhhh I get ya,”} She replied getting the gist instantly. {“Still, how did he do it?”} She wanted to know how he could accomplish killing an intelligent apex predator.  
Tom sighed and continued,{“I told him to rip out his heart and he did.”}  
{“So, you know what he's like then?”} Her heart kind of thumped thinking he might kick her friend out.  
{“Yeah but we seem to be cool right now.”} 

{“Ok good,”} she sighed with relief. {“Listen I didn't tell him my name because I didn't want to get too attached. You know how I get.”} 

{“Mmhmm, yeah I know. Are you trying to be smart about it or something? Because he seems ok. Maybe a bit childish but-“} 

She interrupted him,{“He has no education so be mindful of that and keep him stimulated.”} He didn't like the way she said that. {“Also keep him away from people, he's not very... social.”}

Isaac was on his third bowl of cereal and was staring out the window. He could hear every word he said.

{“Most of all, keep calm. Ok?”}

{“Yeah I get ya. Did you want to talk to him?”}

{“Actually, yeah I want to see if he is ok internally.”} She knew Zack was quiet and talking about what he felt was a little hard to tell because his version of thinking and her version of thinking were almost culturally different. Hell he might not even understand his situation.

"Hey Zack, She wants to talk to ya,” he handed the phone to the killer eating his bowl of cereal.  
Zack awkwardly took the phone. It was clear he had little experience with them. Crunching loudly, he practically hollered, {“WHA?”}  
{“Hey Big Bad how're you doing?”} She asked. Her stomach flittering like butterflies.  
{“Killed a vampire!”} He said loudly, {“'n got lotsa food!! Saw that......that....…Uh...ART you made?! The picture!”} Isaac had forgotten that he wasn't supposed to talk about it. He was still also chowing down, talking around mouthfuls of food.  
{“Oh you did.”} Her face sank then was incredibly red. She brought her pillow to her face. {“Ugggggh!”} was all she said. Tom was face palming and could hear her groans. 'I wish he never saw that,' she thought. 'He must think I'm an amateur for sure. How embarrassing!'  
{“So how did you not get glamoured? By the vampire I mean.”} She desperately wanted to change the subject anything but the mermaid painting.  
{“What's glamoured?”} Zack asked. He had no idea what she meant.  
{“Mind control. They can make you do things that you would never do or say if you were not under their control.”} She tried to keep it as simple as possible. {“They could make you forget your own name. You could be eaten on and you wouldn't remember a thing.”}

{“Huh…dunno,”} he shrugged, standing and dropping the plate in the sink.  
His fearlessness was intriguing but maybe he was... She shook her head, {“He'll have to get another vampire to replace the old one. His customers looking for V, will get restless, maybe even violent. Keep him safe ok?”}

{“Ok, no prob,”} Zack began to pace around, eventually making his way back to the tv.  
{“I’m going to call you guys every two days just to make sure everything is ok. If I'm not doing that something will have happened to me. Please don't tell him ...anything. The job, the plan we have; he won't understand.”}  
{“Ok,”} Zack agreed. He was pushing the volume button on the tv, lowering and raising it.  
'Is that the tv? Man he needs stimulation,' she thought but she didn't tell him that.  
{“All right give the phone back to Tom we need to talk,”} she requested, sounding like a mother.  
{“Ok,”} he tossed the phone back and went to look for more stuff to do. Zack hated being cooped up, with nothing to do. He was used to a fast paced life, always on the run. The slower pace bored and aggravated him. And it had barely been a day.

Tom caught it and tentatively put it to his ear, {“H…hello?”}  
{“You’re dead when I get back.”} She said deadpan.  
{“Yeah I know, I just thought it would be nice for him to know something about you,”} he said knowing Zack just dug his grave for him.

{“It’s not your choice. Keep him occupied until I get back.”}  
{“Yup,” he replied.}  
{“Glad you’re okay otherwise,”} she said then hung up. He then turned to Zack.  
“What the hell man? I told you not to tell her you saw.” He kind of figured out by now, that he is terrible at remembering stuff.  
“Oh, yeah, ya' did didn't you?" Zack responded nonchalantly. To him, it wasn't a big deal at all  
Tom closed his eyes, breathed in to calm himself. Unlike Zack, he remembered things that his cousin said, because they were like best friends. (Insert inhale boi! Meme). "Look Zack you can't just make a comment about her art, she doesn't take criticism well. She gets down on herself," he sighed. "On top of that she is going to kill me with peppers," he lamented as if it was the end of the world.  
"... I told her I liked it." He wasn't really looking at him before, but now he was staring directly at him, mismatched gaze peering intensely, " ..... You should encourage her. Give her a nudge, in the right direction."  
"The last time I did that, she fought me," he countered. He remembered the times she tried all the tricks. Changing the subject, insults, she once tried to take an axe to it, counter with an averted response. "Believe me, she will fight you too.”  
Zack just smiled. "Good."

Tom wasn’t sure what this mean’t. But he had a sinking feeling in his stomach. Who did Sephy bring in here?

Zack went back to trying to amuse himself by wandering the house

He decided to change the subject and direct him towards some exercise equipment he bought recently. “Yeah I wanted to get more upper body strength. But you can use it”

Isaac looked at the machinery, and had absolutely no idea what any of that was. Or how it worked. He ended up start at the other blankly  
*staring

“Ok I’ll show you how it works but I’m new to this too. I’m not exactly an athlete.” He showed him how the little metal stick could go in the little holes on the side of the weights and the lower he got the heavier the resistance was. Then he used the side with the handle that pulled the weights up and towards himself.

Zack watched him, head tilted to the side. He looked neither interested nor bored. "...and you do this for...?"

Exercise, it burns energy. Also I want to be a bit stronger.  
I mean I don’t know if you noticed but I’m a skinny guy. I want to get a little ripped.

Isaac shrugged and poked at the machine. He was strong, but one couldn't really tell due to the bandages and hoodie

So do you want to try it out? You might get less restless.

"Ok." Zack dropped down onto the machine, and pulled the pin so that it set on the hardest level.

Tom watched him thinking that he was really pushing himself. He didn’t know Zack could break a stone wall like a cookie.

Zack began to lift it easily. After all the things he'd done in the murder tower and living on the streets for so long, not to mention the actual strength needed to stab someone, this came pretty easy.

After about ten minutes, the killer began to feel bored again, still he kept using the machine.  
“You want to play Mortal Kombat after this?” Tom asked.  
~~~~~~~~  
Zack wasn’t the best at doing this. “Try up, down, left, right, left, right,” Tom advised. Zack wasn’t hitting the buttons fast enough. Then they heard the sound of breaking glass. What the hell was that? Zack asked grabbing his scythe. “It wasn’t the game,” Tom said, going into the kitchen. What they saw inside was a small fire from a molotov cocktail on the counter.  
Zack looked on in horror. “What the Fucking hell is that?!” Zack started to hyperventilate.


	4. Poison, Hugs, and a Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sephy meets 505 and flug tends to her wounds.

When Sephy got off her smartphone she still felt dread and somewhat cold. She decided to put her more casual clothes on since the orientation was over. She heard a knock on the door and said, “Give me a minute I’m changing.” She unzipped her suitcase and put on a purple short-sleeve button-down shirt, a long black fit and flare skirt, and her shoes back on. “Ok come in,” she confirmed.  
A blue, fuzzy bear with a sweet smile graced his snoot and he walked in. “Oh, you’re 505 right? I have seen you in the commercials. You always looked so cute in them.” He looked at her and blushed profusely; he was clearly flustered at her fawning. She decided to alleviate his fluster by offering a hug. He hugged her back. People have told Sephy before that she gave the best hugs. 505 was not deprived of her affection.  
In wheeled Hatbotler 2.6667 as well. “Can I get in on that”  
“Oh, of course, you can,” Sephy confirmed. While 505’s hugs were fuzzy and warm, 2.6’s were cold, metallic, and rigid. Still, she didn’t care because he asked for it. So far she made 2 friends and quickly. Thank Gods she had co-workers who could help her cope.

“Miss Autumnborn what happened to your neck?” Hatbotler 2.6 asked concerned. 505 looked at Persephone, also with concern now that the well-meaning robot pointed it out.  
“Oh…” she said lamely. “Just… an angry puppy. Nothing to worry about.”  
“Maybe my creator, Dr.Flug, should have a look at this.”  
“I’ll request a bandage and antibacterial cream; I’m certain the puppy has had his rabies shot,” She tried reassuring with a laugh ‘Maybe?’ she thought. He was homeless for most of his life so maybe not. At least he doesn’t have STD’s since he never had sex.  
Nor will he get her pregnant. In 2012 Persephone had a bilateral tubal ligation surgery so she couldn’t have kids. Having kids never has been, nor will it ever be a priority for Persephone. Not that she hated kids, she simply didn’t have the desire to do so.  
“If you’re certain Miss Autumnborn,” 2.6 gave a noncommittal reply to her. He definitely didn’t know what to think of this. 505 only saw an injury that needed to be taken care of. He had the life experience (aside from his abuse at the hands of their overlord) and behaviors of a five-year-old child, yet he could already cook, clean, and other tasks. 505 was oblivious to the implications of what this bite mark could mean. Innocent to the ways of the world, 505 believed her story about the angry puppy.  
2.6 wasn’t as sure but his thoughts never entertain towards a salacious conclusion. Mostly just an abstract and embarrassing story that caused her bite mark. He was more precocious than 505 but still naive, still innocent in terms of what happened to the woman before him.  
“Oh yeah it’s nothing to worry about,” she assured. She felt determined to examine the wound in question but forced herself to stay as though it were a mere scratch in order to assure her companions of her certainty. It wasn’t that bad, was it? Had Big Bad left something serious or did it just look irritated?  
A knock resounded on Sephy’s door once again. “Come in,” she chimed. In walked Dr.Flug with a metal device in one hand and a coffee in the other and a first aid kit in his arm. Sephy guessed the metal device’s purpose. She saw it before on Demencia’s leg, during the commercials. It must have been a tracking device. Sephy really wasn’t comfortable with being tagged like a research animal. Yet, she wondered if she even had a choice in the matter.  
“Evening Miss Autumnborn, I brought something that is required for the job.” His voice sounded even, not exactly  
“Are we really going to do this?” She asked. Hopefully, he got her gist.  
“Yes,” he sighed, clearly annoyed with the opposition. All he wanted to do was get everything on the schedule done. He only had five minutes for breakfast. He barely ate at all and the stress didn’t help. “Obviously we don’t trust you yet, or ever if you prove to be difficult.” He paused. “Unless you decide your family isn’t worth saving,” he sounded very threatening and dark as he spoke to her.  
“Fine, I’ll put the thing on. Geez…” Internally, she was scared but she didn’t show it. Not specifically of him just what he implied. He placed the device on her left ankle. It felt uncomfortable, constricting like a big metal hand grasping her leg above her ankles. She tried giving no response but that was useless at the moment. She hated being chained or cuffed.  
“It’s a little constricting Doctor.”  
“Fine I can use something else,” he relented, then pulled something out of his white lab jacket pocket. It was in the shape of a rounded rectangle. Then it opened some legs and it’s one red eye opened. To her, it resembled a spider. Naturally, while she wasn’t afraid of most things she tried wrapping her head around what it was. He placed it on her leg above her ankle again and it closed around it in a not so snug fashion. Moving when she moved. 

“That feels a bit better,” she admitted. Though she still hated the feeling of being cuffed, it didn’t cut off her circulation. It was like a parent loosening their grip around an older child’s hand. It was still creepy but acceptable.  
“Now that we have that cleared up do you mind telling me what that thing on your neck is?” He asked in a light scolding fashion, pointing at the offending mark  
“To be honest Doctor, it’s embarrassing. I’d rather not say,” She looked away trying not to meet his goggles' hidden gaze.  
“As long as it’s not infected I don’t care,” he sighed thinking maybe while she’s not like Demencia, she may come with her own problems. He got out some disinfectant cream and rubbing alcohol handing it to her. Go wash it in the bathroom then come out for the bandage.  
“Ok,” She got up and made a b line to the bathroom to her left. The bathroom was opulent yet dark. There was a plant in the corner and a big black tub maybe made of marble. The mosaic tiles on the floor assembled into the shape of a hat, surrounded by a circle of black tiles. The rest of the floor was red. The mirror was round and gilded in a gold leaf like sculpture. “Wow it sure beats the motel bathroom.”  
She looked herself over. There was a reddish purple bruise and small teeth marks on her neck. 

She was a big fan of Japanese culture and history and it reminded her of the symbol of the Fujiwara clan in Heian era Japan. It was the way the teeth marks were set from big to small in a round arrangement. Coincidently, the encircling leaves of the symbol resembled human teeth to her.  
Zack truly did a number on her. ‘Well I wanted a mark and I got one,’ she thought. She remembered how good the bite felt and had to cross her legs together. While it was not subtle and she knew it wasn’t, part of her hoped the boss didn’t care enough to find out what the bite mark was. Hopefully, he had better things to do.  
She washed her neck with the soap. It smelled nice like mandarin oranges. The rubbing alcohol was not so pleasant. “Owwwwww, shhhhhhhhoot!” She controlled her self to prevent obscenities and put on the antibiotic cream. The pain burned dull now as she pulled her hair back so the doctor could put her bandage on. He placed gauze over the wound then taped it. “Try not to get it wet and change it often,” he instructed her.  
“Thank you, Doctor.” He may be one of the people holding her hostage but she wasn’t going to taunt him or be rude.  
“Not finished yet, let me see where your were hurt when we got to the uh… manor,” he said sounding nervous, his voice dying in his throat. She realized that he mean’t her injury on her side. It was a bruise and a big purple one at that.  
Just to lift the heavy atmosphere a bit she said, “So, where are the cookies?”  
“What?” he asked, obviously confused.  
“I mean I joined the dark side, where are the cookies?” She asked with amusement. Dr.Flug put an ice pack on the bruise.  
“Hilarious,” he sassed. “But 505 is in charge of evil desserts.” That was unexpected.  
“Oh, there really are evil cookies? Ok, cool.” Maybe it won’t be so bad after all if one got free sweets here and Sephy loved sweets. Unless it was the kind that bit back. ‘Or what if… no, I doubt 505 would poison it. Would he?’ He just was too sweet and innocent. Still, she’ll be on the cautious side. The Doctor placed a cream on the bruise. Uh, what’s that?  
“Just some vitamin k cream. It’s supposed to heal the speeding process. Uh, I mean to speed the healing process.” Flug said correcting himself. Sephy couldn’t help but smile at the slip. She made sure not to laugh. She hoped he wasn’t homicidal. 

Big Bad was already a big murder issue. Was it really an issue? If he only killed smiling assholes didn’t they simply deserve it? She didn’t want him to get caught. Or get her cousin in trouble for that matter. Also if he didn’t get to know people, wouldn’t that make him kind of an asshole? She wouldn’t dare ask him. Not because she was scared of him, but because she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. No matter how tough he was, he would react like a child. She had almost maternal instincts towards him and didn’t want him hurting. Life already hurt him enough. 

And when he saved her from the garbage outside, was he saving her because she was in trouble or because ‘it’ was prey to kill? Why was she not moved to ask him? Didn’t she want to know?  
“All patched up,” Dr.Flug confirmed. This jogged her out of her thoughts, “Oh thank you.” She blushed at the intrusion and decided to cough to dig up some internal dignity. One thing she wanted to do was cyberstalk the guy who burned Zack. To confirm he was still living at the same place. “Hey, Doctor could I have a bit of privacy?”  
“Are you sure you’re not going to bug the place?” His fly-brow (as she decided to call it) shot up in suspicion. “Just my window,” she stated simply.  
He bounced cartoonishly in surprise. He was expecting her to deny it. “I’m not sure you have noticed but I built and installed the security here. I doubt you need it,” he had an air of bragging pride in his voice. “I just get jumpy otherwise. I tend to attract weird people so I would feel better if the window was bugged with a camera and maybe something shocking.” She thoughtfully tapped her chin. “Fortunately I have the ability to make them and I like making them anyway.” Dr.Flug felt both relieved to have a smart colleague in the manor but a dark twinge of something in his gut? He wanted to keep an eye on her but at the same time, it felt exhausting.  
“Flug!” Demanded a voice from outside the door. Persephone’s anxiety returned knowing the boss was outside. “What is taking so long? Is the ice ray ready?!” They were dealing with a fire type hero named Solaro and they needed to make an ice ray strong enough to engulf his powerful flames. “Uh Yes sir,” he said with his own anxiety bubbling through. He was scared of him too. Most people were. “Finished it last night,” he squeaked. His squeak was kind of cute. “Then don’t just sit there show it to me man!” Black Hat’s voice became demonic. “Right away Jefecito chulo.” He whimpered. He shakily got up as if he was slapped unceremoniously. Sephy was so scared that she couldn’t stand up to the monstrous abomination. And while she knew it was pointless to do so, she couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit guilty. 

She really missed Zack then. 

“As for you SlAvE,” his face split into rows upon rows of teeth and reddish gorey flesh, his voice reverberating unnaturally. “mAkE yOuRsElF uSeFuL aNd GeT mE My pOiSoNeD tEa!” She bolted for the kitchen eager to make no trouble for this monster. She flew down the carpeted stairs, her vision a blur of shapes and colors. She found the kitchen panting for a brief moment. 

505 was there to greet her with a warm smile. Sephy searched through the cabinets. Then she noticed that there was a locked one. She looked at it wearily. 505 handed her a key. Her weariness turned into a tired smile. “Thanks, Sweetie Bear.” His adorable smile melted Sephy’s heart but she decided to only put the image away in her mind to make herself feel better at a more relaxed time. 

She unlocked the cabinet to find ominous-looking bottles of clear, brown, and green fluids. She reached for the first bottle she saw, which was cyanide. She placed it down on the counter behind the cookie jar in case anybody tried to snatch it. Why they would, was a mystery but her instincts were never wrong. She boiled a kettle of hot water and picked out a black tea. She tried to reach for the sugar on the counter but 505 gently placed a paw on her hand. She knew then that he preferred no sugar. Sephy understood him then.  
When the water boiled, she added the tea bag to the gothic-themed cup she found earlier. She carefully poured the poison, thinking it might be the same as we humans putting milk in our tea. The cyanide smelled of almonds strangely. 505 brought her a tray with some things Black Hat usually ate. None of which were edible to humans, raw meat, and other things that made Sephy sick to her stomach. 505 gave her a comforting pat on the back. She took a deep breath and walked carefully to the boss' office.

She knocked on the door, "Mr.Black Hat I have your tea and ...other things." She tried to sound cheerful but it sounded comically fake. What was happening to her? She normally could compose herself better than this.

"Enter," he said languidly. The doors opened on their own, so she slipped inside. 

The office was the same as before except the day started to get away from early afternoon, to early dinner time. The sun was glaring into the window from the West causing the room to take on a red demonic glow. Sephy's danger instinct kicked in and made her feel on edge. Not just because of the lighting but she didn't know what the boss was going to do now. The smell of the things in front of her didn't help either. 

"Set the tray on the desk. I need to discuss with you what your big project is tomorrow. This is priority one," He said very seriously. "There is an enemy organization trying to take mine down. They call themselves Podemos Bailar and I want them not only shut down but the location of every member so I can give Demencia a hit list." 

"They call themselves, 'You Can Dance' ?" Sephy asked slightly confused. She had to hold in her laughter because she didn't know how Black Hat might react.

"Yes, do they really think I'm that stupid? I may be older than any human living or dead but I am not any less sharp. I have built an empire from this organization." Black Hat began to lose control of his form his eyes became more feral his teeth too sharp his skin mottled. "I have taken over the world twice! My influence has conquered entire galaxies. Leaving no spy, no hero, no enemy surviving." His claws sharpened and ripped through his gloves and he began to drool green fluid. "We will find them and when we do, we will take them all down. To be left in the ground rotting like filth! Basura! " His voice took on that unearthly tone again; his mouth developed insect-like mandibles. His eyes seemed to run away and emit a gross wet noise. Sephy felt scared and uncomfortable but tried not to show it as much. NoW hErE iS wHaT I nEeD yOu To Do. fInD tHeM iN wHaTeVeR wAy YoU cAn. If YoU fAiL," He growled unnaturally. "I wIlL fOrCe YoU tO wAtCh YoUr PaThEtIc FaMiLy GeT tOrTuReD aNd KiLlEd. Is ThAt UnDeRsToOd?" He shook unnaturally and green and black appendages came out of his mouth. They kind of resembled devil's finger fungus. 

"Yes Boss" she said too quickly, she didn't know what she was seeing but it wasn't right.

"Bien that will be all." He returned to his natural(ish) form in the blink of an eye as if the whole thing had been a delusion. "Flug will brief you on his findings. Now get out of my office." he growled lowly. Sephy didn't want to stay another minute, so she ran out of the office.

**Author's Note:**

> Help me out and correct me on stuff. Also let me know if the characters are too OC. If anybody wants to roleplay the characters with me for this storyline that would be great. Tumblr user, isaac-fxster.tumblr.com  
> a.k.a zack-fxster.tumblr.com  
> a.k.a another-tired-artist.tumblr.com helped me with this in roleplay. The original roleplay is here:  
> https://alseras.tumblr.com/post/181767225127/roleplaying-zack-sweet-boy-what-does-a-humble


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